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Friday, January 06, 2012

Lamb and Feta Stuffed Bundles

I tried something new. I tried making homemade dough bundles filled with lamb and feta. The sharp feta cheese and lamb are meant to be a winning combination. However, this one needs tweaking. Here is my experience with this recipe. Please note this is a recipe for the bread machine although many of you clever bread baking babes will no doubt be able to adapt it using your mixers and hands.

** Yes, you just saw a fat shiba inu in the photo above. Perched there with the meal snaps. No shiba inu was hurt or eaten during this recipe experimentation.

Add first 9 ingredients to bread machine. Select Dough setting. When the cycle is complete, remove dough, punch down, cover and let rest 10 minutes.
In the meantime, get a large skillet out and start on the filling. Brown lamb, drain off fat. Now add feta cheese, green onions, olives and garlic salt. Cool slightly. Grease large baking sheet and set aside.

Divide dough into 8 portions (I only divided into six portions.) On lightly floured surface, roll each portion out into a 6 inch circle.

Rolling out the dough

Place about a ¼ cup filling in center. Pull dough up around the filling, pinching and pleating dough firmly to seal. Placed seam side down, two inches apart on greased baking sheet. Do Not Let Dough Rise!

Neatly spread lamb and feta mixture on dough.

Bake in 350 F oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool slightly on wire rack. After it’s cooled a bit, brush with melted butter.

Let the bundles cool..........

Stir together yogurt and mint as a sauce.

Shiny bundles of lamb and feta

This is from The Biggest Book of Bread Machine Recipes by better Homes and Gardens.

The verdict on this one is rather mixed as I love lamb....but the overall results were a bit disappointing. Perhaps it was my decision to make 6 bundles instead of 8, as the recipe called for. It just seemed we were eating buns with a wee bit of meat and cheese and the balance wasn't unpleasant....but it left you wanting. Desiring more from the meal.

It was a fun experience crafting the dough for the pockets and I was able to give a packet to the homeless dog when we went walking. (probably shouldn't have) So it wasn't wasted....and that dog loves him some lamb pockets!

I like pocket foods, sealed in just about any form of flaky pie crust, puff pastry even pot pies... something about the idea of the all-in-one enveloped in crust is homey, kinda pub-style food that ... hey, I know whats on the menu tomorrow, thanks...